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A Quarter of All Audis to Be Electric Within 10 Years

The electric revolution got another dose of support late last week.

Considering how much media coverage electric cars get, a person would be forgiven for thinking EVs constitute a somewhat hefty portion of car sales. The truth, however, is that the market for plug-in electric cars in the United States is ridiculously small.

Through the first nine months of 2015, EVs accounted for only .62 percent of new car sales. Yes, the market share for electric cars is currently well below one percent.

That number should rise as more automakers provide more options and as the logistical issues of limited range and a lack of charging stations are addressed.

But who will step up and cater to such a small market?

Scott Keogh, President of Audi of America, made an ambitious claim. He said that Audi intends for 25 percent of its portfolio to either be battery-powered or plug-in hybrid models within just 10 years. Audi currently has 29 models listed on its U.S. homepage, including performance variants of standard models. That translates to about seven new electric cars, should Audi hold to its promise.

The plan starts now, with the recent introduction of the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron plug-in hybrid. Keogh believes it’ll be popular enough to drive demand for future models.

Audi introduced the Audi e-tron quattro SUV on Wednesday, as well, and said it hopes to make the vehicle available by 2018. Audi is also developing a nationwide charging network that would provide an 80 percent charge to the SUV model in only 30 minutes, allowing the electric vehicle to drive 200 miles.

For an automaker to devote 25 percent of its cars to a market currently snagging less than one percent of sales is either crazy or brilliant. Audi doesn’t tend to make mistakes when calculating its strategy, so we may be in for some really cool technology on some seriously desirable cars over the coming years.

Within the next decade I’ll have a daughter reach driving age and there’s a nice 2013 Legacy in my garage with her name on it. If Audi makes an affordable electric midsize sedan by that point, there’s a good chance I’ll become one of the one percent.